Often on Sundays, I like to catch up on federal politics.

That's because I'm so busy dealing with other issues during the rest of the week, including what's going on here in Vancouver.

But today, I found myself increasingly exasperated as I went about my usual business of focusing on Ottawa.

Here are the three things that stood out for me.

1. Justin Trudeau's selective call for one by-election

On October 28, the prime minister called a by-election in Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Island and Rideau Lakes, which was held by Gord Brown.

The Conservative MP died of a heart attack earlier this year.

But Trudeau did not order by-elections for three other vacant seats: Burnaby South, Outremont, and York-Simcoe.

Why this ticks me off: Why should constituents in these three ridings be unnecessarily deprived of an MP when another riding will get one? MPs do important work for their constituents. They help them with immigration matters, student loans, and other concerns with the federal bureaucracy.

Reasonable conclusion: Trudeau is putting his own political interest ahead of those of Canadians in these three ridings. He doesn't want NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh being elected in Burnaby and he doesn't want the news on election night to focus on the Liberals losing four races on the same day.

Reasonable response: People living in Burnaby South, Outremont, and York-Simcoe should launch online petitions demanding by-elections—and ensure that this gets plenty of media coverage in the local and national media. Make Trudeau look like he's prevaricating—because that's exactly what he's doing.

2. Abacus Data's selective responses regarding Elizabeth May

When Abacus Data polls on political parties' level of support and the popularity of leaders, it includes questions about the Green Party of Canada and Elizabeth May.

But when it released a poll today on climate pricing, it only listed respondents' answers to questions about the Liberals, Conservatives and NDP.

Regarding leaders and carbon pricing and the climate, the polling firm included three questions listing how the public felt about Justin Trudeau, Andrew Scheer, and Jagmeet Singh. But May was only included in responses to one question.

This poll was conducted shortly after the Greens topped the polls in the Vancouver civic election, receiving the top seven highest vote totals for council, school board, and park board.

Why this ticks me off: I wanted to see responses to more questions about the Greens, particularly when they appear to have momentum and it concerns a topic on which the leader, Elizabeth May, has considerable credibility.

Reasonable conclusion: The partners in Abacus Data don't want to shine a spotlight on the Greens when it comes to climate change and carbon pricing.

Reasonable response: Greens should ask Abacus Data chairman Bruce Anderson why the Greens were mostly cut out of these survey results.

Evan Solomon's selective focus on the micro rather than the macro

This was a big week for people who pay attention to climate change. A paper in Nature revealed that oceans are warming far more rapidly than previously expected.

A study in Science Advances indicated that aerosols and greenhouse-gas emissions are causing more trouble than previously understood with the jet stream, which influences weather systems in the Northern Hemisphere.

The climate crisis appears to be spinning out of control, yet Solomon's program, CTV Question Period, didn't pay any heed to that this week.

Instead, it spent a massive amount of time on Statistics Canada gathering financial information from bank accounts for the purpose of making determinations about family income. Names will be stripped from the data once it arrives in the hands of the federal agency. Whoop-de-doo.

Solomon's show also focused attention on another fairly trivial issue: former governor general Adrienne Clarkson billing the government more than $100,000 in expenses.

Meanwhile, the planet is burning. Go figure.

Why this ticks me off: I thought we were rid of head-in-the-sand approaches to climate change on nationally broadcast Sunday current-affairs programs when Rex Murphy stopped being the host of CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup.

Reasonable conclusion: CTV's Question Period wants to underplay the importance of climate change because it's run by a bunch of libertarians who get themselves into a lather over Statistics Canada and the best governor general in modern Canadian history.

Reasonable response: Learn to love watching football on Sunday afternoons.